Millennials have caught a lot of flak from the media lately. They are laden with debt. They are still living with their parents — or with their peers, if lucky. They are not spending enough on big-ticket items like cars. They are not buying homes and establishing households. On top of all that, they are overly risk-averse and are unwilling to invest in stocks.

During a presentation of the company’s first Looking Further with Ford…13 Trends for 2013 report, she pointed out that only three out of ten 16-year-olds in the U.S. hold a valid license, which means that 70% of them don’t even drive.

“Millennials don’t always see the car as an iconic symbol of status,” she said, referring to the demographic group with Baby Boomer parents who grew up after 2000. “It’s been replaced by the cell phone.”

To capture the younger crowd’s fancy in the hope of landing them as future car buyers, Ford has been teaming up with Zipcar Inc.
/quotes/zigman/118544/quotes/nls/zipZIP to offer hourly car rentals.

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